Exodus 37:20
in Exodus 37And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And in the candlestick were four cups made like almond-blossoms, the knops thereof, and the flowers thereof;
KJV
And in the candlestick were four bowls made like almonds, his knops, and his flowers:
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This verse in Exodus 37
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
he made the candlestick of pure gold
on Exodus 37:17-22
The candlestick is the one item of furniture with no dimensions given, here or in the command at 25:31 to 25:39, where the only quantity stated is a weight of gold. It is hammered from a single piece and verse 22 says so plainly, all of it one beaten work, so the shaft and the six branches and every bowl and knop and flower are the same lump of metal. Its ornament is almond blossom, which is what Aaron's rod brings forth in Numbers 17:8 when God settles who is to serve him.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
29 And he made the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of sweet spices, according to the work of the apothecary. The making of the golden altar, on which incense was to be burnt daily, which signified both the prayers of saints and the intercession of Christ, to which are owing the acceptableness and success of those prayers.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Every object was symbolical of important truth--every piece of furniture was made the hieroglyphic of a doctrine or a duty--on the floor and along the sides of that movable edifice was exhibited, by emblematic signs addressed to the eye, the whole remedial scheme of the gospel.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבַמְּנֹרָ֖ה | uvamenorah | and [were] on the lampstand | H4501 → | 42 times |
| אַרְבָּעָ֣ה | ʾarbaah | four | H702 → | 318 times |
| גְבִעִ֑ים | geviim | cups | H1375 → | 14 times |
| מְשֻׁ֨קָּדִ֔ים | meshukadim | shaped like almond blossoms | H8246 → | 6 times |
| כַּפְתֹּרֶ֖יהָ | kaftoreiha | bulbs its | H3730 → | 18 times |
| וּפְרָחֶֽיהָ׃ | uferacheiha | and blossoms its | H6525 → | 17 times |
וּבַמְּנֹרָ֖הand [were] on the lampstand
uvamenorahH4501 →42 times
אַרְבָּעָ֣הfour
ʾarbaahH702 →318 times
גְבִעִ֑יםcups
geviimH1375 →14 times
מְשֻׁ֨קָּדִ֔יםshaped like almond blossoms
meshukadimH8246 →6 times
כַּפְתֹּרֶ֖יהָbulbs its
kaftoreihaH3730 →18 times
וּפְרָחֶֽיהָ׃and blossoms its
uferacheihaH6525 →17 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Numbers 17:8The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, put forth buds, blossomed, and produced almonds.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 17:24
Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD. I bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make…
- John 15:1–6
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard.
- Ezekiel 17:24
Through
Jeremiah 1:11And the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” “I see a branch of an almond tree,” I replied.
it leads to
- Amos 7:8
“Amos, what do you see?” asked the LORD. “A plumb line,” I replied. “Behold,” said the Lord, “I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will no longer spare them:
- Amos 8:2
“Amos, what do you see?” He asked. “A basket of summer fruit,” I replied. So the LORD said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel; I will no longer spare them.”
- Zechariah 5:2
“What do you see?” asked the angel. “I see a flying scroll,” I replied, “twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.”
- Jeremiah 24:3
“Jeremiah,” the LORD asked, “what do you see?” “Figs!” I replied. “The good figs are very good, but the bad figs are very bad, so bad they cannot be eaten.”
- Zechariah 4:2
“What do you see?” he asked. “I see a solid gold lampstand,” I replied, “with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven spouts to the lamps.
- Amos 7:8
Through
Ecclesiastes 12:5when men fear the heights and dangers of the road, when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry shrivels—for then man goes to his eternal home and mourners…
it leads to
- Job 17:13
If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness,
- Job 17:13
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.